A different beginning
by fanfictionfriendie
Summary: This story is about what could have happened in that first episode. Please review
1. Chapter 1  of pain

Jake Green watched in horror as he saw a huge fiery mushroom cloud burst into view on the horizon. "What the hell was that all about?" he said to himself. Suddenly, he remembered he was driving. Quickly putting his eyes back on the road, hoping he could avoid a crash. Too late. A blue pickup truck swerved into his lane, and collided with Jake's car, causing it to spin into a ditch and roll over. Jake didn't have time to even scream. Then everything went dark.

* * *

Heather inwardly groaned. She knew she should have stayed home today. She felt horrible. Her head felt like someone was driving a sledgehammer into her skull, and her voice was cracking. But, this morning, she thought she could handle it. "Besides," she had thought, "it's a field trip today, and she remembered how excited the kids were. She couldn't let them down now." 

But now, after being dealing with whiny kids, who always had to go to the bathroom, forgetting to bring her Tylenol, and bumping up and down on this bus, she felt like she was going to explode.

"Miss Heather, Miss Heather", Zoë, a young girl with pigtails, poked her. "George was pulling Frankie's hair." Heather started to scream in her mind.

"Okay, thank you Zoë. Go back to your seat now." Heather said while she got up and started to walk down the bus aisle. Suddenly she felt the bus lurch suddenly to a stop, and Heather was thrown backwards, and she felt herself hit the front of the bus. She was unprepared for the pain.

* * *

Jake groaned. His head was on fire! Oh God it hurt. He hesitantly opened his eyes and his head burst into excruciating pain. 

He slowly sat up, wincing at the pain from his chest. He took his shirt off and felt his ribcage. No broken ribs. Good. But there was a huge bruise from the steering wheel. He mentally cursed himself. Why didn't he put his seatbelt on? Then, he assessed his injuries. His ankle hurt. He yelped when he pulled his shoe off. His ankle wasn't broken, thank god, but was covered in bruises, and gashes, and it looked sprained. Jake stood up and collapsed back onto the seat. Yep. It was sprained. The rest of his body seemed okay, considering. Though he knew it would be sore in the morning.

Heather gasped in pain. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She heard the kids screaming, but couldn't get her mind off the pain. Finally, the pain subsided enough to open her eyes.

She was crumpled up against the front of the bus. Kids were crying, screaming, or staring into space. She crawled over to the front seat, trying not to scream in pain, because that would scare the kids.

"Kids, Kids! I need you to stay calm." The crying and screaming stopped instantly at the sound of her voice. "Now, is anyone hurt?"

'No, Ms. Heather. Only you got hurt. You didn't have your seatbelt on," A young girl said in an almost accusatory way. Heather chuckled.

"No. I didn't have my seatbelt on. I'm proud of you guys. Now, I need you to tell me, is everyone here?" Silence. She repeated the question. The same girl as before spoke up.

"M-Matt and Sandy left to go get help. We thought you weren't gonna wake up s-so they left. That was a long time before you got up." Heather felt her heart stop. They could be hurt. Or a wild animal could have gotten to them. Or… Or… her brain worked extra hard, with each thought filling her with more worry.

* * *

Please review! I have almost all the story written, so i will update as fast as i can.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2 of help

Jake had been waiting for what seemed like hours. He finally gave up hope that a rescue team was coming. He stood up and braced himself. He walked around the vehicle and looked for a branch. He found a nice sturdy one about five feet tall. Jake began to walk the long road back to Jericho.

He was only about 20 miles from Jericho. So, if he continued walking, he might get their in the morning. Might. He hoped the town was still intact. If no emergency services had arrived yet, then something must have the town in a tizzy. And that something probably had to do with that mushroom cloud that probably was or had been Denver.

Jake had been walking for what seemed like three hours. The sun was setting. He concentrated not on the pain, but on every step. Suddenly he heard the cries of children. He limped toward the sound that broke through the thick darkness to find two youngsters, a boy and a girl.

"Hi kids, what is the matter?" They looked up, but were silent. "It's alright, I'm Jake. Are you hurt?" The boy shook his head.

"The b-bus, we crashed, Ms. Heather wouldn't wake up, and s-so we went to find h-help."

"Can you show me the bus?" Jake asked. The children nodded and got up. They looked around and headed over a hill.

Heather was sick with worry. She wished that she hadn't broken her leg, so that she could go out herself and find Sandy and Matt. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to them.

"Ms. Heather, Ms. Heather" a small voice broke through her train of thought.

"Yes, Marie?"

"Kevin said that he saw Sandy and Matt coming back to the bus, and they had a man with them."

"A man? Who?" Heather asked, her heart leaping. Where they rescued? She watched as the children scrambled onto the bus. Then, she saw a man, dirtied and bloody, enter the bus. He scanned the bus, and found her.

Jake POV

"Are you hurt?" Jake asked the woman, who he thought must be Heather.

"I think my leg is broken." Jake looked at her leg. Heather bit her lip to refrain from screaming as he pulled the pant leg up.

"Yep. It's broken alright." Jake said. "Would you like me to put a splint on it?"

"No. Please get the kids home." She responded. Jake looked like he was going to protest, but nodded. Standing up, he limped over to the driver and lifted the body out of the seat, onto the seat behind him. He winced at the dead weight.

Heather POV

Heather saw the man wince and asked, "what is your name, are you hurt?'

"My name is Jake. I got in a car wreck on my way out of town and had to walk back when I found those kids," Jake said as he started the bus. He frowned and said while driving, "We might not have enough gas to get there. I'll drive as far as I can but I might have to walk back. Hopefully, we'll get there, though. I figure that we are about seven or eight miles out of the outskirts of town."

Heather POV

Heather was worried about this and she hoped for the kids' sake that they would make it.

Where the hell was Jake? Mayor Green was worried sick about him. Of course, he could be fine, he knew Jake could take care of himself, but then again, he could be hurt, or dead. Each second that past, he grew more and more worried and regretted his harsh words. But, he had to put this past him; he had more important things to do, such as that bus of kids and escaped convicts.

That woman was wrong. He did have a child out there. Johnston told the sheriff and the rest of the police to keep an eye out for him while searching for those kids.

* * *

Hello. Should i continue this? i want reviews! Anyway, please continue watching Jericho, its a great show, and would be missed. 


	3. Chapter 3 of hope rejected

Jake groaned as the bus came to a rumbling stop. He only had almost five miles to go and they would be nearing the town. But, he was lucky that they had made it even this far. He turned to Heather.

"Okay. I think we are about five miles away. I'm going to start walking as soon as I wrap my ankle."

"Hold on, wait a moment! You're hurt. You are not going to go out there all alone! There are wild animals out there," Heather protested.

"Well, who else should do it? Do you want the kids to go out there or me?" When Heather remained silent, he continued. "Now, if help does not come, I need you to instruct the kids to walk back. You know how to get back, don't you? She nodded. They will see it, don't worry." Jake added when he saw Heather's worried face.

Jake slowly wrapped his ankle with the bandages he salvaged from the bus's first aid kit. Then he left the bus, and began to walk, with his walking stick.

* * *

"Mayor, Mayor Green!" Jimmy said loudly as he burst through the doors of town hall. 

"Yes, Jimmy?" He responded, in an exasperated sort of voice.

"Sir, we spotted your son's car about 10 miles out of town. It was in a ditch, apparently there was an accident and there was blood on the seat. I am guessing that he started to walk back to town, but we couldn't find him."

Johnston's heart dropped at these words. "Any sign of the school bus?"

"No, sir."

"Put a Patrol car on all main roads into town. If the bus or Jake comes there probably is going to be a need for medical care. And keep an eye out for the convicts."

Jimmy nodded at the mayor's words and went back to his car.

* * *

Jake had been walking- or rather limping- for about 25 minutes... It was a slow, painful process, but he was almost there. If he got up this hill he would be able to see the town, and then it was only a mile to actually get there. 

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap. Instinctively, he whirled around, only to see no one. He was about to go on when he felt a blow to his head. Suddenly, he was ambushed by at least five men, wearing orange jumpers. He was getting kicked and punched from every direction. Then it stopped. He couldn't move. They were holding him down. He pulled and twisted his body, but one man holding his arm down twisted it, and Jake heard a crack. The sound of a bone breaking. He immediately stopped.

"W-who are you? What do you want?" Jake asked, wincing as he talked. The pain was intense.

"Shut up" One man replied, before kicking him in the chest. Jake groaned, but said nothing after that. Finally, the men seemed like they were going to go. Jake had to concentrate to keep from blacking out, and his vision was getting pretty hazy, but he saw that they had taken his wallet, his watch, and his jacket. He was thankful that he hadn't brought anything valuable, other than his money.

They stood up, as if to leave. Jake thought he was safe, but felt the exact opposite when one of the men brought out a gun. Jake heard the men whispering.

"Give me the gun we stole from the sheriff; I'll kill 'em."

"We can't kill him, 'cause then we'll be murderers." This went on for a couple of minutes.

"Lets just shoot him, and let him die, on his own, that's not murder, cause he was alive when we left" Jake inwardly laughed. Apparently, this man wasn't too bright... But, the others couldn't be either, because they nodded. Thankfully, this worked in Jake's favor. Hopefully, though, he wouldn't bleed out before he got to town.

One man came up to him, and raised the gun. Jake's heart pumped wildly.

He pulled the trigger and the sound cut through the silence like a knife in a cake.

* * *

"Ms. Heather, I'm hungry!" a little girl whined. 

"Stacy, I'm sorry honey, but we have to wait for help to come. We don't have any food." Heather said, wishing that she had SOMETHING for the kids.

Then, she remembered that she had packed a lunch… but hadn't had the time to eat it. She reached in the bag. She felt two sandwiches, a bunch of grapes, a bag of pretzels and a jumbo size packet of MnM's, her favorite. She knew she had nineteen kids with her today, so with her, it was a perfect twenty.

Heather split the sandwiches into three pieces each, the pretzels into four piles, the grapes in five piles and the MnM's… The MnM's. She was so hungry. Then she looked up.

She saw nineteen little faces looking at her, with big hungry eyes. She sighed and separated the MnM's into five little piles. The kids lined up and she gave them a piece of her lunch. She saved herself one little pile of grapes. God, she hoped Jake was alright and coming with help already.


	4. Chapter 4 Of hope restored

The bullet pierced through Jake's shoulder and another one through his leg. He screamed in pain. The criminals ran away, leaving Jake on the side of the road.

Jake felt the pain subside after a while. It now was a very painful ache, but it was bearable. He was thankful that the bullet went through his already hurt leg, because he could still limp to town.He also was glad that the bullet went through his already broken arm.

He felt along his bullet wounds with his non broken arm, checking to see if there was an exit wound on any of them. Thank God, there was. Getting bullets out was a painful and slow process. Jake slowly took off his shirt, trying not to aggravate his wound, but not succeeding. When the shirt touched the wound in his shoulder, he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. He ripped the shirt into strips and wrapped the leg and shoulder. He made a sling with the cloth left over.

He got up and groaned. He lost his walking stick. He sighed. "It's only a little way to town. I can make it.", he thought. So, he began walking, trying not to put any weight n his leg.

Jake finally got up the hill. He could see the town. Usually, you could see all the homes, but now, it was dark, with a light from the center of the town only. He didn't really think about it. he was too worried and trying to focus on getting there.

He began to go down the hill, but took a misstep and put all his weight on his le He yelped and tumbled down the hill, hitting rocks and plants. When he finally stopped, he laid there for a while. He felt dizzy, and wanted to go to sleep. Sleep. Sleep sounded so inviting….

"But no. he couldn't go to sleep. Those kids were waiting for him. Heather was waiting for him. Their life was in his hands. He stood up, and took a step. And another. He HAD to get there. He had to.

* * *

Jimmy, a nosy, but very nice police officer, was sitting in a patrol car on a main road into town. He was just mulling over what had happened today when something moved in the shadows. Jimmy jumped. . It was a person!

Jimmy got out of the vehicle and pulled out his gun. Taking small steps forward to the person, he called out… "Who is there? Show yourself!" He got no reply. He got a flashlight from his pocket and shined it onto the person. It was a man, bloody and dirty, with a gash on his forehead, a hand in a sling and walking with a limp. Suddenly, Jimmy recognized him. It was Jake!

"Jake! Jake! You alright there?" He called, while rushing towards him. Then, Jake collapsed. Jimmy ran towards him, and turned him over. "Jake, c'mon, wake up!"

Jake opened his eyes, and said in a low whisper, "The kids, Jimmy, About five miles away…The bus ran out of gas… Follow this road… The kids…. Heather…" Then, Jake closed his eyes and his body went limp.

Jakes POV

* * *

He heard someone speaking to him, but he didn't know who, or what they were saying. All he knew was that he had to get to town and help those kids. He staggered forward, and then felt his leg give out. He collapsed on the ground. He vaguely remembered seeing Jimmy's face above his, and telling him about the kids. Then, all he knew was blissful sleep.

* * *

Johnston Green was listening to the police radio. He had all the police dealing with guarding the roads, and watching the town, so he was stuck with the radio for company. Then, he heard something.

"This is Jimmy, I found Jake, Repeat, I found Jake! He says the bus is about five miles from here. I am currently taking him to the Medical center. Repeat, I am taking him to the Medical Center. Over."

Johnston Green felt relief and dread at the same time. Was Jake okay? He turned and saw his wife, Gail, standing there, holding s thermos of coffee and having a scared expression on her face. "Gail, Honey, lets go over there, as soon as I send someone to get the kids, alright?" She nodded. He got up, and went to find his other son, Eric.

"Hey Eric, they found Jake, He is over at the Med Center. He said that the bus was five miles away, so I need you to round up some people and head over there, and bring them back. Okay?"

"Yea, dad." Eric was at a loss for words. Johnston could tell that he was worried for his brother.

"Okay honey, let's go." The couple rushed to the Medical Center.


	5. Chapter 5 of forgiveness

They got there, and asked at the front desk where Jake Green was. They were told to wait in the waiting room for the Emergency room. A doctor would be out shortly.

The waiting was hard. Gail and the mayor were silent. He was thinking about Jake.

"Honey, do you think I was a little hard on Jake?" He asked.

"Well, he did leave for five years without a note or a phone call. But, Johnston, he is your son. He said he was sorry. You love him. And, everyone makes mistakes."

"Maybe, maybe." Was all he said. Then, he saw a lot of trucks and a fire engine coming down the road. "The kids are here." He went out and saw them.

Everything was in a fluster of activity. People were everywhere.. Parents were crying. Kids were sleeping. The mayor went over to Heather, and asked what happened. She was strapped to a stretcher.

"Well, the bus went into a ditch, and I went flying backwards. My leg twisted in back of me and I broke my leg. The bus driver was killed, because he broke his neck, I think. We stayed there for a couple of hours. I had been unconscious, and two of the kids went looking for help. I was worried sick. They found a person named Jake, and he helped us. He drove us for a while, and then we ran out of gas, so he started to walk back. I didn't want him to, because he was hurt. He said he was in a car accident. But, he walked back anyway. Did he make it?"

"How bad was he hurt?" The mayor's voice said in a panicky sort of way.

She looked at him strangely. "He was limping, and he had scratches on his face and the rest of his body. But, no, nothing life threatening, unless he got hurt more. Why do you ask? Is he okay?"

"I don't know, the doctor hasn't come out yet."

"Why are you so interested, I mean, do you know him?" She said as two nurses came out and picked her up.

"He is my son." He said after her. Then he realized what he said. He is my SON. He realized that he forgave him as tears ran down his cheeks. Quickly, he wiped them off. He checked to make sure no one else is hurt, and sent everyone home. He went back into the hospital and sat down by his wife

* * *

.

Eric came in and sat down next to the growing number of people. Heather was there with a shiny white cast on her leg, Jimmy was there, along with several other police officers, several parents were there, and of course, Gail and Johnston where there. They were quiet, immersed in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, everyone sat up as the doctor entered the room, along with April, Eric's wife.

"Hello, I am Dr. Miller. I am assuming that everyone is here for a Jake Green?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, Jake has a broken right ulna , sprained left ankle, three broken ribs and one cracked rib, a mild concussion, he had a deep cut in his forehead that required seven stitches, two bullet wounds and bruises and cuts all over is body. We gave him something for the pain. He lost consciousness due to blood loss, so we had to give him a transfusion." After seeing all their sympathetic faces, he added, "He is awake, and not happy about being here, I might add."

Everyone laughed at this last bit. That was Jake alright. , he never liked to stay in one place for long. To him, he was never sick.

"Can we see him?" Someone shouted from the back of the crowd.

"Visiting hours are over, but I will make an exception for is family. Everyone else will have to wait for tomorrow. Sorry." He showed the greens Jake's room and left them.

Jake POV

* * *

Jake heard a beeping noise. A constant, annoying beeping noise. Jake knew te sound, he was in the hospital. He opened his eyes, and saw all white, and smelled a sterile, disinfectant, sort of smell. Yep, he was in the hospital.

A doctor entered the room. "Hi, Jake. I am Dr. Miller. I'm glad you're finally awake. There are a lot of people wanting to see you."

"Did they find those kids?" Jake asked.

"Yes, they found them, thanks to you. No one was hurt, except Ms. Lisinski."

Jake assumed that that was Heather.

"When can I get out of here?" Jake asked next.

"Whoa. Slow down! You have to let your injuries heal! Lets see, you have a broken right ulna , sprained left ankle, three broken ribs and one cracked rib, a mild concussion, you had a deep cut in his forehead that required seven stitches, two bullet wounds and bruises and cuts all over your body. We gave you some pain killers. You also lost consciousness due to blood loss, so we had to give you a transfusion. I would say a couple of days at least."

Jake groaned, the doctor continued. " Now I have some other patients to get to, but I will get your family shortly. Then he walked out. Jake groaned, but soon felt sleepy, and soon fell asleep.

* * *

The three Greens walked in and gasped. Jake looked horrible. He had an arm in a cast, His foot, leg, shoulder and head were wrapped heavily in Gauze, and he had bruises and cuts all over his face and what you could see of his body. His eyes were closed. They were all thinking the same thing. What the heck had happened out there?

"Jake? Honey?" Gail said, in a strangled sort of voice. "Jake?" Jake opened his eyes. He was confused at first, but memories rushed back to him.

"Hey mom, Eric… Dad." Jake said in a rough voice.

"How are you?" Gail said, being a mom again.

"I'm fine, but the doctor is holding me hostage." Johnston snorted at this. That was Jake. Jake was always _fine_ . Everyone was quiet.

"What happened out there?" Eric asked. "How did you get shot?"

Jake took a deep breath and said, "Well, I had been walking, and out of nowhere these convicts showed up. The wrestled me to the ground, breaking my arm, and getting me beat up in the process. The stole my money, my jacket, and watch, then shot me, not enough for me to die, but enough so that I i could i/ die. They left, and I walked to town. Its nothing really."

"Nothing? Jake you saved twenty lives today, and almost got killed in the process! Stop being humble! You are a hero!" Jakes father said, his voice losing his usual gruffness. Jake looked at him, hope on his face. They looked at each other. Suddenly, they went into a hug, and they both had tears in their eyes.

* * *

Should i continue? Or leave it? 


End file.
